Chapter 1050 The Place of Inheritance
Zhong An and the others were overwhelmed by astonishment.
“Whiz!”
The huge cloud cl.u.s.ter instantly transformed into a 10,000-meter-long sword. When it fell, it kept shrinking and finally became a palm-sized dagger.
Like a streak of light, it quickly swooped down, accompanied by monstrous whistling sounds.
“Squeak, squeak!”
When the three-tailed marten sensed the extraordinary aura, its heart s.h.i.+vered in fear. It thought of the Snake-tailed Tiger’s cowardice look and the words it said.
“That ruthless guy has made his move?
“Things are not going well. We gotta run.”
Thus, it galloped out of the city with its subordinates.
“Roar! Roar!”
The other two Strange Beast Kings raised their heads and shouted angrily.
They faced this attack head-on.
As a result, this strike left a deep cut on the back of the giant black scorpion.
“Qing Ming Seal!”
“Ghost Soldier!”
“Overlapped Mountain!”
One supernatural power struck out after another. The remaining two Strange Beast Kings exerted themselves to ward off the blows. But they found they could hardly defend themselves, for the other party was throwing attacks at such a high frequency, not to mention that the smart three-tailed marten had already escaped.
At this moment, the two Strange Beast Kings were trembling with fear. “Could the other party be a mighty master?
“Those are just a few fifth-tier treasures…
“Forget it, we gotta run!”
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…”
The two Strange Beast Kings were not idiots either. They knew that they weren’t as witted as the three-tailed marten. Now that it had escaped, following its suit couldn’t be a bad decision.
In just three seconds, all the spirit beasts and strange beasts on the scene had fled. After running far away from the battlefield, they stared back at the cultivators fiercely for seconds. Then, they chose to leave all the same.
“Is, is this the end of the battle?”
Dong Chen’s eyes widened. The process seemed to be a little too easy.
“Sometimes, using the right method can be more effective than fighting blindly with just your strength,” Zhang Han chuckled and responded.
In the beginning, he used the most glorious and shocking attack to scare away the three-tailed marten. After that, he launched a series of quick attacks to quickly subdue the other two Strange Beast Kings. Zhang Han knew it wouldn’t take long. Two or three seconds would do. To scare them away was also one of Zhang Han’s purposes.
Obviously, those strange beasts were no match for the experienced and astute Zhang Han.
After entering the innermost area, Zhang Han picked up the four kinds of fifth-tier spirit treasures. He kept one for himself, and the other three forces each obtained one.
“Zhang Hanyang, I admire you. I never thought that your strength has reached such a level. You make us feel awed. This is my Communication Card. If you come to the Sea Dragon Star Area again, please contact me and let me entertain you.”
“Hahaha, it’s my first time meeting you. I feel we have a good vibe. This is my Communication Card. If there is a chance, we can have a small gathering.”
“…”
Several Yuan Ying Realm cultivators on the scene presented their Communication Cards to Zhang Han one after another. This was the way of exchanging contact information in the Sea Dragon Star Area. The Communication Card somewhat served as a business card.
Then, without any lingering in the city, they quickly took their leaves.
However, Li Mu could no longer hold back his curiosity.
“Ahem, Un-Uncle Zhang?”
Li Mu called Zhang Han in a low voice. As one of the Eight Greatest Young Masters of the Cloud Star Area, at this moment, he actually showed a timid look and said with some embarra.s.sment, “Well, how did you learn the Highest Clouds Sketch? Are you a senior in our Cloud Shadow Sky? Was I… a little rude before?”
Yi Hou stood bolt upright on the side. His mixed emotions were surging wildly in his chest.
The Highest Clouds Sketch Zhang Hanyang cast was the ultimate supreme kind. That was too mighty. Even he had never heard of any place that taught the Highest Clouds Sketch. However, Zhang Hanyang easily performed it.
Even he started to wonder if Zhang Hanyang had anything to do with Cloud Shadow Sky’s senior members.
“You were not rude at all. Now you’re just a little too nervous. Don’t be.” Zhang Han shook his head slightly and said with emotion, “I have some old friends in the Cloud Shadow Sky. You don’t know them. But perhaps your father knows something about them. When there is a chance in the future, I will go ask your father.”
“Sure!”
Li Mu was astonished. He humbly cupped his hands before his chest and said, “The Cloud Shadow Sky welcomes you at all times.”
His feelings were a little complicated.
“He has some old friends in the Cloud Shadow Sky?
“Oh my G.o.d, how old are his friends? Even I don’t know about them? Hiss, could it be that First Elder?
“That elder lived at least 800 years ago. That’s to say, h-his old friend is more than 800 years old?”
At that thought, he swallowed.
“He is definitely a great figure who has returned from some high-end Star Area after his travel!
“Is this an opportunity for me?
“I’ve only obtained eighty percent of the authentic legacy of the Highest Clouds Sketch. I’ve only learned the incomplete version. But he just performed the full package, so he must know the uncut Highest Clouds Sketch.
“I wanna learn it!”
Li Mu gazed at Zhang Han eagerly.
He had completely regarded him as an old senior.
However, Zhang Han paid no attention to him.
He looked at the sky and said, “Let’s go back to Wood City. We’ll set out for the depths of the land tomorrow.”
“Yes.”
The group set off again.
On the way, Nina and Mengmeng chatted under their breath. Nina asked repeatedly, “How old is Uncle Zhang this year? Is he several thousand years old? Is he some sort of a Grand Master?”
Mengmeng was befuddled by those questions.
“Huh? No, my father is in his thirties. He is a middle-aged man, not an elder…”
Hearing these words, Mo Wen was lost in thought.
He figured that Zhang Hanyang might be the descendant of the Cloud Shadow Sky’s former high-level member.
But Li Mu and Yi Hou firmly believed that Zhang Han was a senior of the Cloud Shadow Sky.
Because he might be able to change his appearance to look young, but the cool and collected air he had could not be an act.
Therefore, they became more and more cordial toward Zhang Han. Soon, they put down 90% of their guard and treated others with sincerity.
As soon as they returned to Wood City, they found that the city was more lively than the morning. There were about six hundred people on the streets. At first glance, the place looked like a flea market downtown.
There were also some acquaintances in the crowd.
“s.h.i.+ Fenghou, you’re not strong enough yet. Why did you come to the east side of the river?”
Mu Xue squinted at s.h.i.+ Fenghou, who was making some purchases.
“Ha.”
s.h.i.+ Fenghou gave half of a cold laugh as he always did and said, “If you can come, why can’t I?”
“Haha, I have my master and his wife to protect me. I’m safe here. But what protection do you have?” Mu Xue taunted.
However, s.h.i.+ Fenghou did not take her c.r.a.p.
He answered with confidence, “I have my fast speed. Speedy movements are the key to all the martial arts in the world. If I want to leave, no one can make me stay, except for Zhang Hanyang.”
“You’re so arrogant!” Jiang Yanlan snorted. “Aren’t you afraid of encountering a strange beast who is also very fast? You may get killed.”
s.h.i.+ Fenghou glanced around, nodded to Zhang Han, and went on his way.
“Ye Longyuan, Yan Chen, you are here too.”
When they continued to walk down the street, they saw more and more people they knew. Jiang Yanlan said in confusion, “Aren’t you afraid of death at all?”
“What to be afraid of? A great tree provides large shades.” Ye Longyuan glanced at Zhang Han before continuing. “In the world, he is the only one I fear. I will follow you guys this time. If you have a good haul, I can pick up some leftovers. If I don’t make money, how can I pay the debt I owe him? I am about to break through to the Elixir Realm Peak-Stage. Given the compound interest, I’ll have to pay more than one million crystal stones, alas…”
“Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!”
His words rendered the surrounding stallholders dumbstruck at once.
“This brat has owed somebody more than one million crystal stones?
“Good lord! It’s such a huge sum. Some small sects still may not have so many crystal stones.”
“You have great ambitions. Enjoy your leftovers,” Jiang Yanlan joked.
Jiang Yanlan was familiar with these people because she used to work in the National Security Agency as Captain Vermilion Bird. Well, that position belonged to someone else now.
She sometimes wondered if Ye Tianlang regretted dispatching her to Xiangjiang. She had never returned to the headquarters since then. Thus, Ye Tianlang had lost his right hand.
They continued to walk down the street.
Someone unexpected came into their view.
It was Ding Jiuming!
What was even more surprising was that he was wearing purely white clothes. He had replaced his long hair with a crew cut, which made him look spirited. Also, he had had a good shave, so now he seemed stately and handsome.
“Ding Jiuming, why are you here?” Mu Xue asked.
“I came to see you people.”
Seeing that Mu Xue wanted to say something, Ding Jiuming waved his hand and said, “Eldest Lady, let’s not talk about that. I’ve had great enlightenment and advanced to the peak of the Elixir Realm overnight. I now understand that beauty and romance fade in time, so I shouldn’t put all my effort into romantic love. If I was too pushy, it would only put you under pressure. It’s no longer what I want.”
“Eh?” Mu Xue was stunned.
“What are you talking about? That’s not what I wanted to tell you.”
“Great enlightenment?” Jiang Yanlan covered her mouth and giggled. “It seems that you’ve come around. Congratulations.”
In the past, anyone could tell that Ding Jiuming was dull and depressed all the time. But now, his vibe had changed.
“Dude,” Instructor Liu said with a baffled look, “You can’t be considering becoming a monk, are you?”
Ding Jiuming was taken aback.
His face suddenly froze. He felt rather speechless.
Before they could say anything else, he hurriedly clarified, “No, no, no, how could I want to become a monk? I’ve figured it all out. I want to bring love into my cultivation. Eldest Lady is very sacred in my heart. My heart will always have room for her, but that’s all. I’m going to travel around the colorful world and experience everything. I want to be a playboy. Wei Fan was right. There are so many Holy Women, Divine Ladies, princess…”
Under everyone’s stunned gaze, Ding Jiuming’s face took on a trace of licentiousness.
“Anyway, I’m quite good-looking. I’ll try my luck on those women one by one. Although I can’t have the one tree I regard most precious, it’s still good to take the entire forest.”
“Er…” Zi Yan’s mouth quivered and she said slowly, “your ambition is really great.”
“I think is okay. It will take some time before I go on that journey,” Ding Jiuming answered, nodding. “Because I have just made a breakthrough. Plus, Zhang Hanyang and Moon Empress have also arrived. Thus, I want to follow you guys and take a look here. I have met many of my own people. Everyone thinks that it will be much safer if we travel in your path. The east side of the river is the main stage for the trial. It’s for us cultivators. No one wants to miss the opportunity. What if we are also fated to be the chosen ones?”
Li Mu, Nina, Mo Wen, and Yi Hou were all confused by his remark.
But Zhang Han and the others knew very well that what he was talking about was the inheritance of the Heavenly Lord’s legacy.
Zhang Han didn’t say anything about this.
To put it bluntly, there was also a strength upper limit for this trial.
The strongest beasts were the strange beasts in the Yuan Ying Realm Early-Stage, who were very close to the Middle-Stage. There should be no beasts more powerful than that, only their number could be huge.
Since those people had come from Earth, Zhang Han also knew that they were favored by fate.
Whether it was Mu Xue, Zhao Feng, Ding Jiuming, Ye Longyuan, s.h.i.+ Fenghou, Wu Ming, or the others, they had all obtained benefits on the west side of the river. This had something to do with the fact that this land was powered by the Saint Warrior Planet’s energy. The fact that they lived on the Saint Warrior Planet might have also played a part.
This was a trial land prepared specifically for them. How could there be no chance for them to make it on their own?
Zhang Han easily guessed that if they could not go to the east side of the river given their strength, many of the strange beasts would disappear. They would be hidden in the secret realm to reduce the difficulty of the trial. Or maybe the land would deliberately let them discover some incredible legacy, which would improve their strength straight to the Yuan Ying Realm.
Zhang Han thought it should be the former. After all, they had just obtained the Source Energy and advanced to the Elixir Realm Last-Stage with its help. Their progressing speed was already very fast.
As Zhang Han and his groups arrived at Wood City, the others who followed Yue Wuwei to this land also rushed to Wood City.
Because they wanted to seize better opportunities.
Early the next morning, Zhang Han led the team toward the depths of the east side of the river.
They came across many small cities and various kinds of strange beasts. Zhang Han kept providing them the information about the things they saw on the way.
His broad knowledge held Li Mu, Nina, Mo Wen, and the others in great reverence.
They all had a higher regard for him.
Li Mu, in particular, stayed beside Zhang Han’s family and eagerly offered them this and that. He intended to cozy up to Mengmeng. But the little girl only played with Nina and ignored him.
After a couple of days, he eventually found the right person to curry favor with.
It was Zhang Guangyou!
Li Mu provided Zhang Guangyou with one bottle of treasured liquor after another, which deeply pleased him.
However, Zhang Han still did not agree to teach him the Highest Clouds Sketch.
Just like that, several days pa.s.sed.
In the void of the universe.
Yue Wuwei was lying on his boat, where he could eat, drink, and sleep just like he used to on Earth while watching everything that was going on on the Lost Continent.
“The exploration has progressed by 60 percent.
“In about a week, they should be able to find the Place of Inheritance.
“The grandest inheritance ceremony is about to begin. I wonder if anyone will be able to obtain the Heavenly Lord’s legacy this time.
“It can’t be Zi Yan.
“Zhang Hanyang… is very promising. I hope it’ll be him. That brat only cares about his little family, so he may not be interested in other affairs. But at least he won’t do anything out of the line. He’s a perfect candidate.
“Compared with him, the other compet.i.tors are simply naive children. It should be him. He and Zi Yan are the only ones here whom I can’t see through.
“They’ve explored 90 percent of the land by far.
“Okay, now 95 percent. Haven’t they found the Place of Inheritance yet? Do they have to explore every inch of the east side of the river?
“No, that’s not the case! Zhang Hanyang, you’re indeed cunning. You’re obviously leading the others to tour the place and to gain experience. He may have long guessed where the Place of Inheritance is.
“They’ve explored 100 percent of the land. Hahahaha, you’ve found it? Now, it’s my turn to stand on the stage.”
Yue Wuwei had been doing nothing but waiting for a whole week. He was completely bored. Now Zhang Han finally took everyone to the Place of Inheritance, he leaped off the boat and soon disappeared into the void of the universe.
At the same time, at the east side of the end of the river that ran across the entire Lost Continent, there was a small lake.
The water in the lake kept running into the river bed as if it were endless.
The lake had a radius of about 100 meters. No one knew where such a great amount of water came from.
But the group paid attention to the flowing water. They were all looking at the gigantic stone tablet in the middle of the lake!
The stone tablet was a cuboid. It was pitch-black, about 10,000 feet high, floating in the center of the lake with a majestic aura. Even Li Mu was amazed by it. He said that he had never seen such a spectacular stone tablet in the Sea Dragon Star Area.
“The water on all sides is heavenly water. What does this mean?”
As Zhang Han and others looked at it, what was written on the stone tablets were Chinese characters. But Nina read it out clearly, sounding quite curious.
“Well, I don’t know. It seems to be the name of our place,” Mengmeng muttered.
“Heavenly water.” Yi Hou’s eyes registered astoundment. He was pondering which place was called the Heavenly Water.
“There is no such place in the Sea Dragon Star Area. They are truly from a certain high-end Star Area.”
“Why does it look like a tombstone?”
Mu Xue suddenly remarked, “Look, there is a round stone platform in front of the stone tablet. Isn’t that the place for people to do the wors.h.i.+p? Is there some super powerful expert’s body buried under the stone tablet?”
“What?”
Everyone present was slightly alarmed.
The way they looked at the stone tablet instantly changed.
If it was really a tombstone, it would be incredible and extremely weird. What kind of legacy would there be?
The more than 50 people who came from Earth, including Ye Longyuan at the back, were all staring at the stone tablet in silence, waiting for Zhang Han’s explanation.
They were used to learning from Zhang Han’s lecture.
At first, those people didn’t follow Zhang Han’s group. Later, when they found that Ye Longyuan and the others were going with them, they gradually joined in, and the group became increasingly larger. Regarding this, Zhang Han didn’t object or anything.
Truthfully, as they continued to explore the east side of the river, they would eventually find this place on their own.
The legacy of the Heavenly Lord was hard to get. After all, this was already the ninth time.
Zhang Han didn’t think that the more people that came to have a try, the lower his and his group’s success rate would be. He believed that this kind of inheritance was predestined.
Perhaps whether one could obtain the legacy was totally up to one’s fate.
There were hundreds of people present. During these days on the east side of the river, many Yuan Ying Realm cultivators extended kindness to Zhang Han and volunteered to be good friends with him. As Zhang Han took several measures, conflicts seemed to have gone away from him.
The exploration went on harmoniously. There was no more fight over treasures. Because the east side of the river was too vast. Basically, everyone had gained something.
Now that they were here, everyone knew that the most important moment had arrived.
Judging by the size of the stone tablet as well as its majestic and enigmatic aura, one could tell that the legacy here was inconceivably amazing!
“This tombstone is really odd.”
Dong Chen scratched his head. He scrutinized it and exclaimed, “Guys, now the tombstone is so large and spectacular, the person buried under it must also be extraordinary. Huh? Guangyou, why are you winking at me? Am I wrong? It’s just a black tombstone. What’s the big deal…”
“Bang!”
A dull thud came out, and Dong Chen’s body flew straight into the sky before no one could stop it.
It was not until then that many people looked back and saw the dark-faced Yue Wuwei.
“Ahem, Dong Chen, I’ve warned you,” Zhang Guangyou said with resignation.
“Humph, what tombstone? This is a stone tablet! It’s a stone tablet for the trial!”
Yue Wuwei said grumpily, “Hurry up and start. Those who want the legacy, go up to the stone tablet and take the test one by one.”
“Gulp…”
It was only then that Nina realized that a person had suddenly appeared behind her. It seemed that Uncle Zhang and the others all knew him. Thus, she took Mengmeng’s cute hand and asked in a low voice, “Mengmeng, who is he? He seemed to have appeared out of the blue. Why didn’t I notice?”
“He’s Grandpa Yue. He’s very nice,” Mengmeng replied playfully. “He likes… scaring people.”
Hearing Mengmeng’s words, Yue Wuwei’s long face became less sullen.
To be frank, other than Zhang Han’s family of three, he did not care much about any of those on the scene, including Wu Ming, who was also from the Black White Palace.
He admired Zhang Han, revered Zi Yan, and cared about their daughter, Mengmeng. Others… were not worth his attention.
“Senior, how would the test be?” Yi Hou inquired with a strange expression on his face.
He did not notice when Yue Wuwei appeared either. Thus, he asked in a humble voice.
He was being very respectful. Because he didn’t feel any bit of Yue Wuwei’s aura when he threw Dong Chen out a moment ago.
“He’s gotta be a big shot!”
Yi Hou knew that this old man’s strength was unfathomable and was an existence that he could not provoke.
However, the legacy Yue Wuwei mentioned was also very tempting. Yi Hou wanted to give it a try. That was why he posed the question.
“It has nothing to do with you people.”
Yue Wuwei glanced at him and then waved his right hand, saying, “Of course, I wouldn’t mind if you want to have a try.”